Read Dell's Reseller Ratings before Buying

[SantaFeBill]

I'd urge anyone thinking of buying a Dell system to read their ratings on Reseller Ratings.

There seem to be 4 threads:

1. Unhelpful and sometimes rude customer support, even when escalated to the supervisory level;

2. On-site techs, while generally courteous, often mis-diagnose problems and are unable to fix them;

3. Dell will not take responsibility for fixing problems caused by its own mistakes, e.g installing incompatible components;

4. It is using 'bait and switch' techniques - it will offer a well-spec'd system at a good price and then cancel the order, sometimes even after a confirming e-mail has been sent to the customer, saying that the original price was 'too low' or that there had been some kind of pricing error. It will them sometimes offer the same config at a higher price.

I fairness to Dell, I must relate my own experience, which was very different. I order a high-end workstation and monitor. Before the system arrived, but after it was shipped, the project that the system was ordered for fell through.

I contacted Dell, explained the situation, and asked to return the system, boxes unopened.

Not only did Dell pay for return shipping, but they refunded the entire original purchase price with no deduction for a restocking fee.

Now this was well over a year ago, when the economy - and presumably computer sales - was in better shape. Many of the more serious problem reported on RR have occurred more recently.

So: Which is the truer picture of Dell today? What many are reporting on RR, or my experience? Since I need to purchase a new system, I wish I knew.

 

[Darby]

Been a Dell user/customer for years. Do buying for local firms.

Over the past nine months I purchased 6 Dell 'Outlet' PC's & laptops. No problems. An ordering error on my part resulted on two of the same new monitors being ordered. A phone call to 'customer service' (in the Philippines) was handled by two helpful ladies and the problem was resolved.

Never had any tech problems with the units (knock on wood)

I have noticed a change in customer service since the off-shoring of phone contacts. India & Philippines. Some good and some bad, like ALL the tech contacts now.

 

[Kodiak]

that over the years they have been very good to me. One thing to look at when someone says they were very rude and disrespectful is the way the person talked to them. They may have started the conversation off by being nasty and personal and then the company responded in kind. I have found them to be nothing but helpful.

The only thing I will say is now lacking is the overseas tech help. This is not as good as it was. It is alright but when you used to talk to a clearly english speaking person it was much easier.

 

[chevysales]

I'd urge anyone thinking of buying a Dell system to read their
ratings on Reseller Ratings.

There seem to be 4 threads:
1. Unhelpful and sometimes rude customer support, even when escalated
to the supervisory level;
2. On-site techs, while generally courteous, often mis-diagnose
problems and are unable to fix them;
3. Dell will not take responsibility for fixing problems caused by
its own mistakes, e.g installing incompatible components;
4. It is using 'bait and switch' techniques - it will offer a
well-spec'd system at a good price and then cancel the order,
sometimes even after a confirming e-mail has been sent to the
customer, saying that the original price was 'too low' or that there
had been some kind of pricing error. It will them sometimes offer the
same config at a higher price.

I fairness to Dell, I must relate my own experience, which was very
different. I order a high-end workstation and monitor. Before the
system arrived, but after it was shipped, the project that the system
was ordered for fell through.
I contacted Dell, explained the situation, and asked to return the
system, boxes unopened.
Not only did Dell pay for return shipping, but they refunded the
entire original purchase price with no deduction for a restocking fee.
Now this was well over a year ago, when the economy - and presumably
computer sales - was in better shape. Many of the more serious
problem reported on RR have occurred more recently.
So: Which is the truer picture of Dell today? What many are reporting
on RR, or my experience? Since I need to purchase a new system, I
wish I knew.

you have 21 days and the clock starts when they ship to return anything for any reason unopened... so your issue was within their guidelines, they did nothing special for you.
--
D-Seven Double 0 paired with 24-70 f2.8 and 70-200vr f2.8... :> )

 

[chevysales]

Been a Dell user/customer for years. Do buying for local firms.

Over the past nine months I purchased 6 Dell 'Outlet' PC's & laptops.
No problems. An ordering error on my part resulted on two of the same
new monitors being ordered. A phone call to 'customer service' (in
the Philippines) was handled by two helpful ladies and the problem
was resolved.

Never had any tech problems with the units (knock on wood)

I have noticed a change in customer service since the off-shoring of
phone contacts. India & Philippines. Some good and some bad, like ALL
the tech contacts now.

not all tech contacts... try a boutique builder and see the difference and on some setups they are priced very close.

check out puget systems and their reseller ratings and then spec a baseline system. price difff not that much for cutom build.
--
D-Seven Double 0 paired with 24-70 f2.8 and 70-200vr f2.8... :> )

 

[BigBen08]

...and never had a problem with any of them. My almost 8 year old Inspiron notebook never gave me a problem.

As far a tech support, only had to call them twice. Got good service.

 

[ClaudeD]

Over the years, between home and office, I've ordered 11 Dell desktop systems. I was happy with each one.

The most recent one (a new Intel i7 processor) had some weird boot problems. Technical support was very useful and fixed the problem in a reasonable amount of time.

I wonder about the reseller ratings.

 

[Rab143797]

I've had a really good experience with Dell over the years even though I never used their tech support (never bought a notebook, everything Desktops), the machines were reliable and lasted a long time. But my very last experience with them (about a month ago) left a bad taste in my mouth.

I was looking on their Canadian site for an XPS Studio 435 desktop (i7 based) and one day they had a sale on it online and I thought the price was good. I configured it but I didn't order because I wanted to take the dimensions home first (I was at the office) to make it sure it fits under my desk (it's a custom made desk that has limited room and the Studio 435 is big).

Anyhow, I saved my cart and emailed myself a copy of it. The expiry date on the deal gave me ten days but I went home that same day and measured and then tried to load my saved cart only to find out it was gone/empty. I opened my email and tried the link but it says there was a problem with the page.

I called CS and while they were courteous and understanding, they said that their system somehow deleted my cart and I can't get it back. Further, the sale is no longer available (even though it was active a few hours ago) and they offered to configure the same system only this time it came to $400 CAD more.

I asked repeatedly why this happened but they offered no explanation or whether it was a price error...nothing. Bait and switch? I don't really know but it sure sounds like it, doesn't it?

I really didn’t want this one experience to ruin what otherwise has been a good one for me with Dell but it has left me cold and I backed out of the deal they offered me. I’m looking elsewhere for an i7 based unit but I’m in no rush and will look at Dell again.

 

[Lunatic59]

I run the IT department for a medium size wholesale distribution company. We purchase all company hardware from Dell for a single source of support. While support cases have been few and far between, when they have come up, Dell has always been exceptional in their handling of issues. I don't know if they handle thier business customers differently. I have personally purchased a few refurbs from the outlet, but have never had any issues with them.

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